The End is Near!

     Hey everyone! Sorry that I have not posted for awhile. I guess I have either been super busy or super lazy. Haha. When I am not at school I am usually out watching a movie and eating delicious movie theatre popcorn or sitting at home on my butt relaxing.
     Last week was Thanksgiving and I was quite sad to be reading all of the posts on facebook about people having the holiday off, going Black Friday shopping, and most of all, spending time with family. Those are the times when I really miss my family and my friends. I have made a "family" here in Jakarta but it's just not the same, you know?
     Luckily, my BBS family and I went out last Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Four Seasons Hotel. This is a 5-star fancy hotel that serves a delicious Thanksgiving buffet every year (also with free flow wine and champagne to go along with it). One of my favourite foods of the spread was probably the cheese. That's how you know I am from Wisconsin right there. They just don't have good cheese here. Well, they do, but I don't really feel like paying $12 for a block of good cheese. Otherwise, if you buy sliced cheese, it doesn't melt. I don't really know what it is made out of and I probably don't want to know. I don't tend to eat cheese very often here. I really enjoyed my time with the KJ & PIK campus teachers. There was a lot of talking and laughing, of course. It was just two bad that the two campuses couldn't sit together. They didn't have a table big enough for all of us.
     We started our testing with the kids on Monday so the semester is really coming to an end very soon. I mean, in 15 days I will be leaving on a plane to fly to America for the holidays. I am very excited and I can't wait to see everyone. We had to mark the compositions today that the students wrote and it seemed to take forever as usual. I marked one full class and half of another, so probably about 45 scripts. It took me about 3 hours to do all of them. Then we have to mark the other half next Wednesday as we do double marking for our compositions.
     We will finish up our testing this next week and have one week for results processing and parent teacher conferences. I already hinted to my kids that they shouldn't give me food because I will never eat all of it before I go home. Last year I was given so much food and I had to either throw it out or give most of it away.
     Well, I don't really have much else to tell all of you about. I am going to another one of the Thousand Islands this weekend so I can blog about that and post some pictures when I get back. I hope that everyone has a great Friday and also a great weekend! I will be home from December 22nd - January 10th so I will be seeing all of you Wisconsinites soon :)

Hello MRT! Singapore Weekend :)

     This past weekend another teacher (Danna) and I decided to take a weekend getaway to Singapore. We booked our tickets and hostel last minute and away we went on Friday after school. I was so excited to get to the airport, because the first place that I wanted to eat was Subway! Oh, how I missed it so much! After we left the airport, we made our way to our hostel.
     Singapore is so clean!! They are not allowed to eat on the MRT and chewing gum is illegal. There are major fines. They really want to keep this city clean. It really is nice to go from Jakarta to fresh air and even greens. You could see the sky at night clearly with stars and the moon. Normally in Jakarta it is too hazy that you can't see anything. I wish Jakarta was the same. At least Singapore is close enough, that I can go there to breathe some fresh air every once in awhile.

     Thank goodness for the MRT! It is so much better than trying to get around in Jakarta. Usually you are stuck in Jakarta traffic for 2 hours before you get anywhere. I wish they would just build one here. It would make everyone's lives a bit easier, and you would definitely get where you are going much faster. Maybe it would help with a lot of the air pollution here too. We took the MRT to the Lavender stop on the Green Line and walked about 8 min to our hostel on Lavender Street. 

     When we got there, we had to stand in front of a camera and a guy buzzed us in. That was something I hadn't really seen before. When we got to the top of the stairs, there was a man sitting at his desk, but it sounded like there were a bunch of people like a dorm. I wasn't sure we were going the right way. He checked us in and showed us our room. There was a guy sitting next to us that was just passed out in the chair. I think he may have been up all night working the desk the night before or something. I'm not really sure. Otherwise, I am thinking that he may have been drunk. Haha. 

     It was pretty late and there were other girls sleeping in our room when we got there, so we tried to get settled in as quietly as we could. We went out in the common area and used the computers and logged onto the wifi on our phones. I noticed that the guy that was working the front desk kept getting up from his chair and going over to the fridge. He was drinking liquor straight out of the bottle!! No wonder he was acting strange when we first got there. I didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but oh well. It was a place to sleep and that's all we needed.
     The next morning, we woke up around 9 am and started our day. They offered free breakfast of toast with jam, so we took advantage of that. Danna actually had a doctor's appointment that day, so we didn't have much time to explore before that. We went to a store called Mustafa Singapore to look around. Little did we know that it had like 5 floors and 2 buildings! We would never get through the whole thing. We only had about 45 min to look around and then we had to find the nearest MRT station to make it to her appointment.
     Of course, like in any hospital, they were running behind. We had to wait quite awhile before Danna even got in to see the doctor. I sat in the waiting room and used my iPod to look up directions to our next location. We were going to be meeting up with a friend (Mildred) that used to work at Bina Bangsa School with us, so we didn't have a lot of time after the appointment. We decided to go to Little India to get some lunch.
     We walked around for awhile and tried to find a good restaurant to get some food. We found a place that looked pretty busy. That is usually a good sign if there are a lot of people eating there. After we were seated, I started looking around and saw that everyone was eating with their hands. I just looked at Danna and was like, "Uh....I think there isn't any silverware here. Everyone is eating with their hands...." The waiter took our order and thankfully, he brought us some silverware right after. Haha. I was a bit relieved because I wasn't sure how I felt about scooping rice and curry with my hands. Anyway, the food was delicious!
     After we ate, we walked around some more to try and find a place to buy some Indian clothes. Danna ended up buying one shirt and I didn't really find anything that jumped out at me. We decided we would have to go back the next day, because it was time to head to Chinatown to meet up with Mildred.
     When we arrived, it didn't take long to find Mildred, because she ran up behind us and scared us! The lantern festival was going on in Chinatown, so Mildred walked us around and we got to see the beautiful lanterns hanging above the street. We decided to eat in Chinatown. We got a variety of dishes and shared with each other. I really like doing that, because then you get to try a lot of different types of food.
     After we were done eating, we walked down by the water. We waited just long enough that we could hear the Grand Prix race starting. It was so loud! It was like we were right there. We walked even closer and we could see the tops of the racecars driving by on the track. Races don't usually peak my interest that much, but it was pretty cool to be so close at such a popular race.
     We decided to go back to Mustafa and look around since it is open 24 hours. I found a backpack for travelling, which is what I really wanted for our October trip. I found one that fit me well and wasn't too bad for price. I also bought some other gifts for family and cockroach traps of course. Haha. That's where we get the good ones. This place had everything from electronics to food. I had never seen anything like it. It was like a huge department store with groceries and everything else you can think of all in one. It finally got to the point that we were so tired, and my feet were really hurting. We just had to get out of that store. Haha.
     I slept much better the second night than the first night. The first night, it was so noisy in our room because it sounded like the window was open. The traffic was so loud! It also didn't seem very cool in there, even though the AC was on. I was sweating so bad the first night. The second night I switched and slept on the bottom bunk, and that seemed to be much better. I don't like climbing up and down from the top.
     First stop on our last day in Singapore was Little India. I wanted to find a kurti that I really liked. I actually ended up buying two of them, and Danna bought another one. She had hers tailored and I also had one of mine done. They are beautiful shirts and the people that do the tailoring are so fast at it. After we left Little India, we decided that we should go and find something to eat. We walked to Orchard Road and we looked around. We found the mall that we were looking for and picked up a few things for teachers that asked us to get them things.
     Then our search began for the Hard Rock Cafe. It was so close to the stop where we got off the MRT, but it took us forever to find it, because we walked the wrong direction. Instead of crossing the street, they actually have an underpass that you can take so it was a little confusing to us tourists. After a good 40 min of walking there, we finally found the place.
    I decided after all of that, that I needed a drink. Danna and I both ordered a burger and we enjoyed some relaxing time at the restaurant. I bought a t-shirt from the store to add to my collection of other Hard Rock shirts. Hard Rock is always a little pricey, but you know they always have good food. I'm actually pretty excited to go to the new one in Jakarta (hopefully very soon!). As we were going out, we realised that they actually have a location in the airport so we could have just gone to that one. After all of that searching, and they have one at the airport....
     After Hard Rock, we searched for the Funan Electronics mall. We hopped on the MRT, and took it to the nearest stop to the mall. City Hall was a zoo, because there were so many people watching the race. We finally got out of the crowd and into the mall. Danna was looking for a tablet to buy. After looking in a few stores, she found the one that she wanted. After that, we didn't really have that much time so we headed back to the Little Red Dot (our hostel).
     We grabbed our bags and headed for the airport. Our flight was delayed by an hour so that gave us extra time to sit around in the airport. If you are going to have a delay or an overnight layover at any airport, I would want it to be in Singapore. That airport is amazing and has so much for you to do. There are so many shops and lots of restaurants that stay open 24 hours (including Subway!).
     When we finally boarded the plane, I was pretty tired. I slept as soon as we took off until we landed. I really enjoyed my weekend away, and I can't wait to do it again! It was great to meet up with Mildred and I wish I would have been able to meet up with my friend too. Oh well, there is always next time. I will definitely be going back for a visit sometime in the spring.    

Back to School

     Sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I was vacationing in the Philippines and Phuket for the summer. It has been so long since that trip, that I don't think I will remember enough to blog about it anymore. I will post some pictures on Facebook at some point.
     Our summer holiday was so short. It was only about 2 1/2 weeks before we had to be back in Jakarta for the teacher's conference at school. When I got back from the holiday, I also met my new roommate Amy. She had been here already for about 3 days. She is from Milwaukee, WI and we went to the same college in La Crosse, WI. We had never met each other before though.
     We also had 1 full week of preparing for school and meetings. My birthday happened to fall during this week so a bunch of us got together and went out for dinner at Hotel Mulia in Senayan City. It is a really fancy hotel that has a buffet dinner. They have food from around the world such as Indian, Indonesian, Western, Chinese, etc. The best part about this buffet is the room that is full of desserts. I think I would pay the $35 just to eat that. The dessert room also includes a chocolate fountain with an assortment of fruit that you can coat in the delicious chocolate. What a great birthday dinner with great friends.
     Then, school started on Monday, 15 July. My workload this year seems to be about the same as last year even though I have a lot more gaps during the day. I am teaching Primary 3 English and Project and Primary 4 Math. My form class (homeroom) is in Primary 4 Grace again this year. I know I had posted before about how my class last year was very talkative and sometimes quite naughty, but I am actually missing them a lot. I see them around school quite often. One of my students from last year that I had a lot of behaviour problems with asked me if I have any students in my class this year that are like him. Haha. He actually knows that he can be difficult.
    My Primary 3 Hope English class is the smallest of 19 students and I see them everyday along with Primary 4 Grace Math class. I have a student in P4 Grace that I taught last year for Science. He was quite the handful last year, but I think he has matured quite a bit. I have his little brother this year in my P3 Hope class so it seems that I have him all over again! They are the same, but I'm not sure which is going to be more of a handful yet.
     Because I am teaching new subjects, it seems like it took me awhile to get into the swing of things again. P3 English is new to me, so it's like I'm starting over. Only 3 weeks into the school year and we had another holiday, which I will write about in another post sometime soon. I travelled to Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.
     I have a new set of responsibilities this year which include writing tests for the whole Primary 3 level. I am the Primary 3 level rep for English. I have to write a test this weekend actually. This year is going by so fast already. It's almost September!
     Well, the weekend is here and I have no plans besides working on an application and writing the English test. Hope everyone who reads is doing well and has a great weekend!

I promise, I will post pictures from my vacations on Facebook soon.

First Year of Teaching Is Done Already!?!

     Well, I have finished my first year of teaching in Jakarta, Indonesia. The last week was very busy with going over the final tests with students, class parties, Primary 6 graduation and parent teacher conferences. I feel like this year has gone by so fast. It feels like I was just home in America for Christmas not that long ago and now it is the summer holiday.

     I am really going to miss my kids, even though their behaviour was not always the best (haha!). They really improved this year. Even my student who had a lot of behaviour issues in my class earned the award for making the most progress since the first semester. I was so proud of him and I am glad that he started to get his behaviour under control at the end of the semester.

     The students finished up all of their exams and then we had to go over all of them. I had to go over all of the tests in my classes in one day. It felt kind of rushed. I wish we would have had a little more time, but oh well. I got it done.
     On Tuesday we had our class party, and so many students brought food. We had so much extra food, I had to share with the rest of the teachers. Our party was at breakfast time, but then by the time lunch rolled around a student had ordered pizza for all of us! I definitely wasn't hungry, but I did take  some of the pizza home. 

     On Wednesday, we basically had meetings all day. We also had our end of the year meeting with the directors. We did find out that we got the extra housing allowance!! I guess our letter that we wrote to the directors helped after all. We were also able to give other suggestions to the directors and principal about what we would like to see or improve for next year. 

     Thursday was the Primary 6 graduation ceremony. It was over 2 hours long!! It was a very nice program, but I think it was longer than my high school graduation. It was very different than a any graduation that I have been to. There were lots of awards given out and there was a singing program done by the students to thank their parents for supporting them. It was actually very nice. Afterward, we all had a buffet lunch.

     This was also report book day. We had to make sure that all of our grades were entered on the computer and that they were ready to print. This is always a day of waiting. There is always a long line of people waiting for their reports to be printed so we can sign each one and put them inside the books.

     On Friday, we had parent/teacher conferences and then we went out for lunch with all of the teachers as a farewell to our Math HOD, our Chinese teachers and our dear Vice Principal, Ms Lina, who are all leaving us. Ms Lina is like our Mother of Bina Bangsa School and now she is leaving us to go to another school. It's very sad and we will all miss her very much. 

     Some of my students brought me gifts, and I even had one student who took me out for dinner on Friday night. We went to the mall nearest my building. He also got me a very nice watch. I also got a lot of food as gifts from the students, which is very common here in Jakarta. I get all of this food, but then I leave in 3 days! I don't know how I am going to eat it all. I'm not I guess. Haha. I will have to give a lot of it away. 

     Monday I am headed to the Philippines with some other teachers from KJ and Eduardo (he also teaches at PIK with me). I think it's going to be a great trip. After we are in Palawan, Philippines for a week, we are going to Phuket, Thailand. We are going to spend most of our time relaxing on the beach. I would also like to do a little island hopping. There are some beautiful places that I am told that I need to check out in the Philippines and Thailand. I'm sure that I will blog about the trip and post pictures when I get back. 

I Choose to Forfeit My Accommodations Package? That's News to Me!!

     We were informed earlier in the school year (2012) that we would not be provided with housing anymore here in Jakarta through the school, even though our contract (for most of us) says that we will have accommodations provided to us. The school has said that they will give us a housing allowance of about $2,500 USD for the year.
     Just a week ago, the teachers at PIK (me) heard that the other campus (KJ) would receive a higher housing allowance than us. How is that fair to the rest of us at all? We all live in Jakarta, it is not cheap. Their basis on this increase for the other school is that they live in an area that is more expensive than us teachers in PIK....It's not my fault that they chose to house the teachers in expensive apartment buildings that are a lot newer/nicer than the apartment building that I live in. I live in a building that is 10+ years old, but the benefit of that is, the space is much, much larger. All of the new apartment buildings these days have tiny units that you can try and hold two people in.
     The teachers teaching at PIK that live in City Resort are sharing a 2 bedroom that is tiny. The little room in their units fits a bed, which allows you a little walking room. That's it. The other bedroom is okay, but the units do not seem like they are meant for two people at all. We all just want to be comfortable while we are here.
     So, if the teachers in KJ live in a more expensive area, those of us in PIK can't help that. We just don't think the $2,500 USD is sufficient for us to cover the bills that we need to after paying the fees just to live in the building. They did not take our extra expenses into consideration when calculating these figures. The service fee for living in the building has been increased and also the rate for electricity. As of right now we are getting an allowance for water and electricity where if we go over a certain usage amount, we have to pay the excess. Next year, we will have to pay all of it out of pocket, because there won't be any of the housing allowance left to help cover these things.
     I am just very disappointed that I am getting stressed out about something that I shouldn't have to worry about. Why should I be worrying about how much money I am going to have to pay out of pocket next year, when this school told me at the recruitment fair, that I would be provided with two years of housing that is paid for?
     I really hope they understand that what they are doing is not right, and I really hope they take all of the teachers' points into consideration when making a decision. I am not only fighting for myself, but for other teachers that I know are very concerned with this situation.
     The story behind the title of my post...We received an addendum to our contract today at school and one of the first lines says, "I choose to forfeit my accommodations package that was originally stated in my contract..." Uh...when did I choose this? One teacher asked if we could get the language changed to say, "I am being forced to forfeit my accommodations package..." I am refusing to sign this right now along with a lot of other teachers. I hope this makes them realise that we are being very serious about this and that we are very unhappy about all of this.
     Now that I am done with my rant about housing...on with the rest of the week. Only two more days, Friday and Saturday maths course, and then my weekend can start. Bring it on!!

~ The Little Mermaid, Jr ~

     The weekend of 19-20 April, PIK Primary put on the show The Little Mermaid, Jr. The students and teachers had been preparing for this for about 6 months. After all of that hard work and practise the show finally came. The teachers had to stay back from school to help out with props, and there were a lot of teachers that had production roles for the play. My role was to help with the booklet. I did not design it, but I helped put together the contents inside.
     After school on Friday we all stayed back to get ready for the play. I sat and watched the kids practise as they anxiously waited for the show to begin. A lot of students from my form class participated in the play. Most of the students that were in the play are part of the Performing Arts Club at the school. Two of my students had lead roles. One was Flounder the fish and the other was Sebastian the crab. You can see them above on the cover of the programme. I also had 4 other students from my class that had roles.
     They performed three times, and there was actually two different Ariels. They thought that both of them did a good job, so they took turns with the role. I was so impressed by this musical. They put on such a good show for primary students. I never knew how talented they were. I didn't know how talented my class was. Sebastian also played the drums at the beginning of the show. I don't know how they got up there and performed in front of everyone like they did. I guess I used to be in musicals, but I never had solos like most of them did. I was always in a chorus or something.
     I will say that I am glad the musical is over. It took up a lot of time, and pupils were missing class so that they could go to practise. It was hard when my students work in groups and their group members are gone. I think the rest of the teachers are very proud of the students, but they are also super glad that it is all over. I think they wanted to burn the props when they were done. Haha. Some teachers put a lot of time in on the props, like my roommate, Amber. She was definitely glad when we had the curtain call at the last show on Saturday night.
     Next year, the musical will be at the other campus (KJ), so I will be anxious to see which show they pick. Hopefully I will be able to watch it. This weekend I haven't done much. I went to see Iron Man 3 last night with Amber. Otherwise, today I have done nothing except clean up the kitchen a little bit and visit with Andrew from upstairs. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend. In May, I will be at school on the weekends for my Maths course. I need to prepare myself to be busy/tired. Haha! Oh well, the school year will be over soon, and I will be on my way to some island to relax on the beach...(hopefully)!

3 Terms Down...1 Term Left to Go!

     Well, we just had a week off from school for our term 3 break. I will write about my trip to Thailand in a different entry. I was thinking that I don't write about school on here very often, so I should probably start. I have been blogging about all of my trips! Haha. Anyway, I can't believe that 3 terms have already passed by since I have started my new adventure teaching in Jakarta. I think it has flown by! Summer vacation will be here before I know it.
     I know I wrote before how my Primary 4 class was a little hard to handle. They still are, but I think they have gotten better with their behaviour. Of course, some days they are the same as they always were, but then other days they are great. I have figured out some classroom management strategies that seem to work for them. That is something that I can always work on and I hope that is something that I improve on for the next year.
     I feel like I have also gotten used to the flow of things at the school. I really have learned how things work in the school and how things should run in the classroom. I have gotten used to how fast paced the subject material is and and how the lessons need to be done. The pupils have to have so much information covered in a short amount of time for a test. I have been able to cover all the material needed with my students before the tests. I was having troubles with that during the first couple of terms.
     This first week back has gone pretty smoothly. I feel like it was so calm, but I am sure things will pick up soon. We start remedial and co-curricular activities again next week, so that will be two days that I have to stay back after school. It has been really nice to come home at 2:45 pm everyday this week. I have been keeping up with my marking so that I don't have a ton to do on the weekends or at night (that was my New Year's Resolution).
     Just before the term break, we had the annual Sports Festival Week. The school is divided into 4 houses (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow) and they compete in sports events throughout the week to earn points for their house. I am in the Blue house and we got 2nd place this year. I guess in the past years, our house has always lost. We are improving! Yay :)
     They participated in events such as soccer, badminton, sack race, basketball, shoer race and the tug-of-war, just to name some of them. I think sometimes I was more excited than the students! Haha. Although they can be pretty competitive, they still have a lot of fun.
     You're probably wondering what the shoer race is. I didn't know what it was either until the day of the event. The students have to take their shoes off and put them in a box at the end of the court and mix them with the others on their team.  They must run down to the box from the starting line, put their shoes on as fast as they can and tie them, and then run back and tag the next person in line. I could not believe how many kids in Primary 3 and 4 that could not tie their shoes! The Blue team lost because there was a student who could not tie his shoes properly. He was sitting there forever. Their nannies tie their shoes for them, so they don't know how. I just couldn't believe it....Haha!
     We also had some very sad news this week. One of the other American teachers that worked at the KJ campus passed away. He fell from the 29th floor of his apartment building. They are not real sure what happened yet. That was so sad to hear. I only met him at orientation and maybe saw him a couple of other times at meetings. I feel so sorry for his family and his friends that were close to him. It was such sad news to hear after the term break. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they are going through this hard time.
     Well, the weekend is here and I am going to relax, do some lesson plans, and get ready for the next week of teaching. I hope that everyone has a good weekend :)

Karaoke, Euchre, and a Bonfire on the Beach ~Pelabuhan Ratu Part 3

01 - 03 March, Pelabuhan Ratu, Indonesia

     For dinner that night, we decided to actually ask for the menu. Before we had just been reading the Western menu that was posted when you walked into the restaurant. I ordered some Indonesian food and it was tasty and cheap compared to the Western food. We sat around having good conversations and listening to my iPod on the speakers that the bar had. 

     Karaoke was next. We didn't even make it into the room. We sat outside listening to the terrible singing and started to play Euchre. We had to reteach Eduardo how to play. It takes awhile to learn again after you haven't played for a long time. He got the hang of it after while, which was good. He was my partner, and I wanted to win. Haha! We actually ended up losing by 2 points! 

     After one long game of Euchre, it was getting late. We decided we had better head up to our rooms if we wanted to get up early and enjoy the half-day that we had left at the beach. As we were getting up to leave, a local Indonesian started talking to us. He invited us to their bonfire on the beach. Of course we accepted the invite. It was really nice of them to invite us. I had never been to a bonfire on the beach before. 

     It was a big group of people that had actually rode their motorcycles from Jakarta to Pelabuhan Ratu for the weekend. We met one guy named Dani along with many others. Dani is the one that invited us. They were all very friendly and were happy to practise their English with us. They wanted soooo many pictures though! They always do when they meet new people....or Americans. 

 

     They were actually cooking fish and octopus on the fire. I didn't try any, but Danna tried a bit. I just stood around and talked to all of them. It was getting late so Danna and I decided to head back to our rooms to get some sleep before the next day. It was already midnight. 

     The next morning, I got up very early. I was woken up by my hotel-mates. They went back to sleep and I stayed up. I read my book, before getting some french toast for breakfast. I decided I should probably take advantage of the little time I had left to relax, so I grabbed my book and headed for the cabana by the pool. The group of guys that we had met the night before were leaving, so a few of them came over to say goodbye to us. They were going to be making their long motorcycle trip back to Jakarta. 

     We actually ended up leaving a couple of hours after them. I did not want to go back to the city of Jakarta where the air is not fresh and the beach is not clean for miles. I loved where we were and we all decided that we should have just called in sick on Monday. We wish! As we were leaving, I checked out the map that they had hanging in the lobby. I actually figured out where we were after the whole weekend was over. We were so confused as to what the town was called that we were in, oh well, we just knew we didn't want to leave. 

     After paying and chatting with the owner for awhile, we all piled in the car and got ready for the long trip back to the big city. We made one stop, and the trip took us about 5 hours again. I thought maybe it was going to be worse because of the traffic, but it really wasn't all that bad. I was sick of being in the car though, so I was not looking forward to the taksi ride back to Mitra Bahari. 

     I finally made it home around 6:30 pm or so. Back to reality....I had to get some work done for school after unpacking and starting some laundry. Monday was coming already, but I had a great, relaxing weekend. 

Soaking up the Sun ~ Pelabuhan Ratu Part 2

01 - 03 March - Pelabuhan Ratu, Indonesia

     After dropping our things off at the room, we went back out. This time we decided to sit down by our pool with our books and read. The sun was soooo hot, we were sweating in no time at all. It didn't take us long to want to go down to the water and cool off. After Lynsey and Nicole came back from the water, Danna and I decided to head down to the beach. Of course, she found a place to rent a boogie board, so she wanted to do it. I went out with her so that she wouldn't be alone in the water. She only paid about $1.50 to rent it for 30 min! So cheap! I just stood in the waves and enjoyed the nice cool water. 

     We decided we had better go and get some lunch. After looking at the time we had no idea that it was already 3:00 pm! We had been out in the sun all day long. We headed in to get some lunch. I tried ordering from the Western menu again and got some Med Terranean chicken (as it was called on the menu). The lady brought out our food and there was a small, whole chicken sitting on my plate. I couldn't believe how much food it was, but it looked delicious. It definitely was. I at all of it! The sauce to dip it in was amazing. 

     At this time the owner of the hotel actually came by. His name is Ron and he is from Canada. We had contacted him about staying at the resort before we went. It was nice to meet him. He had lots of stories to tell us about how he came to live there and about other guests that he has had at the hotel. He invited us to karaoke later in the evening. He said he had better see us there and that it would start whenever we wanted it to. Haha. 

     After lunch, we decided to take a walk down the other side of the beach. It was the late afternoon and it was starting to cool down, so of course all of the locals were out now. Before, there had been no one on the beach, because they don't like to be out in the sun. They don't want to be tan like we do. Haha, so funny, but true. There were a couple of groups of boys playing soccer on the beach, and a lot of people in the water cooling off. 

     We walked up onto the street, and of course, got a lot of stares from the locals as we walked by. Americans get stared at everywhere they go. I guess because we stand out. Well, everyone else stands out a little more than I do. I get mistaken for a local all of the time, or at least someone who can speak the language. I don't look American so therefore I speak Bahasa Indonesia...Haha, NOT! 

     Ron had been telling us about some green stairs, and we found them. As you walked up the hill, you came to a spot where you had to pay. It was only $0.10 to go on the little tour. We didn't know what it was, but it seemed worth it. The man spoke English and took us along a path. We came to some stairs that lead down to the meditation chair. There was a very nice view of the beach from there. 

     As we walked farther down there were big rock formations that you could walk onto in the ocean. They had built a bridge across a couple of the rocks so that you could walk across, but there was no way that I was going to cross it. I am afraid of Indonesian made things. Haha. The bus way bridges that they made here are made out of thin sheets of metal. I don't think so! I walked across one once, and it scared me to death. I would rather take my chances crossing the street with the traffic. Anyway, I decided not to walk across the bridge, but the other girls did. I walked around on the other side while waiting for them to come back. 

Lynsey found her own mediation chair :) 

The bamboo bridge that I would not walk on

     We walked down and made our way back along the beach. We decided to stop at the local Indomaret and have a Magnum Ice Cream bar before dinner. Haha, dessert before dinner. We met up with Eduardo on the beach and again, had lots of stares from the people along the road watching us walk back to our hotel. 

Watch Out For the Green, Java Sea Queen! -Pelabuhan Ratu Part 1

01-03 March: Pelabuhan Ratu, Indonesia 

     I had not been out of Jakarta since we went to Tidung! That was so long ago it seemed. I was ready for a trip away from the big city. Of course, we scheduled our trip on a weekend where we had a Saturday event that we didn't know about. I did not know that I had to be at school on Saturday until 3 days before and the trip was already planned. Well, after passing it by the principal, I was able to leave on Friday after school for my mini vacation.
     As it started to rain, Eduardo, Linda and I took a tasksi from school to meet up with Danna, Lynsey and Nicole. We got to their place just in time. The driver had just gotten there and we were ready to go after getting a few snacks for the long drive to Pelabuhan Ratu....and yes, it was a long drive. The driver came all the way from Pelabuhan Ratu to get us and take us back with him. The drive took us through the VERY curvy roads of the mountains. When we got close, the driver rolled down the window to show us the ocean. It was night, but it was still amazing! It took us about 5 hours to get there, which landed us there at about 9:30-10:00 pm. The driver said that it would normally only take about 3 hours, but because we left during a bad traffic time, it took us longer.
     We checked into our rooms and got some dinner before settling in for the night. Eduardo's stomach didn't like the roads too much on the way there, so he pretty much crashed right away. The place was pretty nice. They had a restaurant/bar right there, where we were able to order Western and Indonesian food. After dinner we all called it a night.
     The next morning I got up pretty early and went out on the balcony. What an amazing view to wake up to. I was so excited for the day, because I knew I was going to be spending it relaxing on the beach.

     After eating some nasi goreng (fried rice) with egg for breakfast, I quickly put my swimming suit on, got my things together and headed toward the beach with Lynsey, Danna and Nicole. As we walked along, there were crabs everywhere! I had never seen so many in my life at a beach. Good thing they ran before you even got close to them, because I didn't want to step on one or have one scuttle over my foot.

     We walked down the beach looking for a good place to put our things. We got all the way to the end and it looked like a good spot so we put our things down. The other girls started to take pictures on the nearby rocks in the ocean while I stood by our things and put sunscreen on. I am putting sunscreen on, and all of a sudden, a huge wave comes out of nowhere! It takes all of our stuff! I grab my bag quickly since it is right next to me and try to grab anything else that I can while yelling for the other girls to come and help. I had to chase my sandal into the ocean. I mean, it wouldn't have been a sad loss, but I really wanted to wear shoes for the weekend.
     I got both of my sandals back and luckily, everything else was in my bag. My bag only got a little wet on the bottom. Unfortunately, we ended up with 1 cell phone not working, an iPod not working, and a missing shoe. Danna had lost her shoe and we could not find it. Since I was running around chasing my shoe with my sunscreen bottle open, I think I wasted half of the bottle all over my bag and on Nicole's shorts...oops! We could not believe what had just happened. All of the girls' stuff was soaked! Of course, after that there were no other waves that reached that far back, but we decided to take all of our belongings back to our room.

     After this happened, we learned of a myth about the Java Sea Queen. Her name is Nyai Roro Kidul and the myth says that if you wear a green garment in this area, it will anger her and bring misfortune on the wearer. Well, Danna was wearing a green tank top...hmm...is the myth true?!?! She is the only one who lost a shoe. Even if it isn't, we are still giving Danna a hard time about it. Haha.

Flood Days! ~17-18 January, 2013

     Not even a week after we got back to Jakarta, and we already had 2 days off from school. I am definitely not complaining, but it sure was an interesting experience to have while being in Jakarta. We got to school on Thursday, and most of the kids did not show up. We didn't know what was going to happen and there was talk of school closing. I actually had at least 21/26 students show up, so I thought for sure we would be staying. But, not long after we gathered in the assembly hall, there was an announcement that everyone was to call their parents and go home. It had rained so much that there was flooding all over Jakarta. The water was very high in places and ruined many people's homes and businesses.
     I had never seen anything like this in my life! I thought it was bad when it flooded in WI, but no, this was bad. People were using makeshift boats to get from place to place and there was so many Search and Rescue teams here. They had a big area set up outside of my apartment that had tents where they were giving out water and supplies to the people in the area. The area that I live in was one of the worst areas that flooded. We could not go anywhere! Taksis were not driving by let alone many other cars. The big trucks were still able to drive through the flood waters, so there was still a lot of traffic coming through the area.
     Amber and I were getting a little worried since we were getting low on food. We weren't sure what we were going to do. We went to the little convenience store downstairs, but the shelves were empty! I was able to get some juice and a bag of popcorn for a snack. We needed to get the basics: milk, eggs, and bread. Amber tried ordering a taksi, was able to reserve one, but they called back to cancel due to the high flood water. Amber also tried to get a Search and Rescue boat to take us, but they took forever to respond. We ended up meeting a very nice man who owns units in our building that offered to take us. I didn't end up going, but I sent my list with Amber. He only had room for so many people and there were a couple others that wanted to go.
     Thank goodness that he was able to take them. Luckily, Carrefour was stocked with food and Amber was able to get most everything that we needed including some bottles of water. We were stocked for a good week.
     That same day we did venture outside a little. I didn't really want to walk around in the flood water too much, because it was pretty gross and dirty. I also didn't want it to make me sick. We did walk from our building, which they had blocked off, to the bus way crossing. We had to pass through knee deep water to get across, but we made it! It was so sad to see. People who had homes destroyed were living in the bus way and on the walkway above the street. I took some pictures, but I can't seem to find them. If you have me on facebook you should check them out on there. The locals were all walking around like it didn't even phase them and we were just thinking about how crazy it all was.
     After a long weekend of staying in because of the flood waters, it was nice to get back to school the following Monday. The water was lower, but not quite low enough for the travellos, the school vans, to come and pick us up. We had to use the big bus to come and get us for awhile until the flood water went down completely. The area around school looked like it didn't even rain at all. I had heard that the area in Pantai Indah Kapuk was dry!
     The flooding is all part of my great experience that I am having here in Jakarta, Indonesia. I think I will be prepared for any other flooding that we get in the future. They said that this was the worst they have had in quite awhile. They have never had flood days from school in the past 5 years or so. I guess I am lucky?! I hope that nothing like this happens again, because so many people were left with nothing and it takes so long for things to go back to normal.

I Am Still Alive :)

     Wow! I know it has been forever since I have written a blog, so I thought I better update everyone. I have not written since before I went home to America for the holidays!

     My trip home to America was amazing. It was so great to see everyone, and even more great to surprise my mom (she had no clue). Yet another time in her life that we have been able to keep something from her. She is usually pretty good at figuring things out, but we fooled her again. My family could not believe it when they saw me standing in the living room the night that I got home. I think they had to look at me twice! 

     I spent the first part of my holiday at home, because I decided to bring the snow with me....which I don't know how that is possible. I came from hot, rainy weather. Anyway, it snowed a lot, so I got to spend my time with my mom and my grandma. After the snow cleared up and after spending the holidays with my family, I started my journey across the State of Wisconsin visiting everyone that I could while I was there. 

First Stop: Plover, WI

     This is where I was able to spend time with Ryan, Grace, her parents, Mom and John. We went out for dinner with Grace's parents. It was nice to see them since I hadn't seen them since Grace's graduation. 

Next stop: Antigo, WI. 

     I had never been there before in my life, but I had to go and visit Andy! I left from Plover on another snowy day, but I made it to Antigo just before it started to snow. The highlight of my time in Antigo was the snowmobiling! I had not been snowmobiling since I was probably five years old. We pulled each other a sled and I also got to drive a snowmobile for the first time. I was not used to it, so I didn't want to go very fast. Haha.

3rd stop: Oshkosh, WI

     I stopped in Oshkosh to visit Sarah. I had seen her in Richland Center while she was home, but I wanted to spend some more time with her since I had never been to her place. I met her roommates and actually met up with a friend that I met this past summer. It was New Year's while I was there and we had big plans to go out in Oshkosh. This is how you know you are getting old....we didn't do anything! We just stayed in and watched tv, waiting for the countdown to midnight. Shortly after the ball dropped, we went to bed! Haha. We ended up going shopping at the Outlet Mall, which caused me to stay another night. Oh darn! Then I made my way back to Richland Center. 

     After being in Richland Center for a day, I decided I had better head to Madison. I actually ended up taking a friend from Korea so that he could move into his new apartment. So I killed two birds with one stone and was able to visit Hanna. It's a good thing I did, because while I was there, her car would not start! She wasn't going to be able to make it to Richland Center to see me for the weekend :( I also got to meet up with my wonderful friends Dolly, her fiance and Krista. We had a great time chatting over a good meal. 

     After staying one night in Madison, I headed back to Richland Center. I packed my things and headed off to La Crosse for a night. So much moving around, I know! First thing I did when I got to La Crosse was to meet up with my friend Hillary for lunch. She brought her husband along so it was nice to see him too. I hadn't seen him since their wedding. After a long lunch, I just bummed around the mall and then finally met up with my good old friend TK. He was sick, so he was not going to be able to meet up with me later. It was so nice to see him and we had a good time chatting as usual. 

     After leaving TK's we went to Grizzly's for dinner. I met up with my old co-workers from Old Navy, my old roommate Melanie, and my old neighbor Jared.  Andy also drove down from Marshfield to come out with everyone. 

     After dinner, some of us headed out to downtown La Crosse. I hadn't been there since last June! It was pretty dead since it was the holiday break. Most students were home, so it was kind of a nice night. Not too crowded, but still ran into a few people that I knew. 

     The next day I ended up meeting with my cooperating teacher from Arcadia, and some Indian friends that I met at Old Navy when I worked there. I had a nice visit with all of them before heading back to Richland Center. 

     I wasn't home for many days after that, and I had to head back to Chicago to the airport. My mom ended up taking me back...again. She was of course very sad to see me go, but I feel like I had an easier time saying goodbye to everyone this time. I was so happy to be able to make it home, and it was a nice vacation away from the big city of Jakarta. 

Bandung: Day 2 - October 2012

     On the second day, we actually one of the other teachers join us on the trip (Eduardo). He decided that he needed to get out of Jakarta, so he came to Bandung to join us on our mini trip. He got there pretty early, but we didn't not get going until way later than we should have. Oh well, we still had time to do quite a bit. The first thing we needed to do was try and find a driver for the day. We called one place and they were all booked, but we did find one when we called the second place. He didn't speak much English, but that was okay. We had our phrasebook. That thing has come in handy so much. 

     We didn't end up leaving until around Noon. One of the Chinese teachers, Fanita, slept for so long! I couldn't believe how much she slept on the trip. I think she may have been the last one to get ready for the day. Our first stop on our adventure for the day was the volcano! I was told before we left for Bandung that the volcano was due to erupt anytime. Awesome, but they were still letting people up to view it. I am glad that I didn't have to hike up to the top of this one like we did in Bali. We were actually able to drive all the way to the top. When we got up there, we got out of the van and walked around. There was so much steam coming out of the volcano. It probably was going to erupt at any time! Right when we got out, there were guys trying to sell us stuff. You just kind of have to ignore them and shoo them away. 

     The view was so amazing. I had never seen anything like it before, but I was looking down into the volcano. I guess you are able to walk down into the crater of the volcano, but I think they had it closed off so people couldn't do that. Amber, the Chinese girls and Eduardo all rode on horses for a bit around the volcano. I didn't really want to, so I just waited for them and took some pictures. They had a Lady Gaga horse! Haha, the horse had pink hair and her name was actually Gaga. Of course we just had to get pictures taken with her. We took a lot of pictures together and then walked around to all the little shops that they had up on the volcano. They had some interesting little shops with things that you could buy like carvings and paintings. 

     It was starting to get dark, so we decided we should probably get going. We asked our driver in the best Bahasa that we could if he recommended another place for us to go. The other place that we wanted to go to was closed. He recommended going to the hot springs, so we all agreed. We had been wanting to see the hot springs anyway, but the ones that we wanted to go to were closed. He knew another place that would still be open. 

     We got to the place and we paid the entry fee. We walked past an area that looked like a locker room, and we all just kind of looked at each other. I guess people actually came there to swim in the hot springs. We didn't really think anything of it, but when we got out there, all we saw was a pool! We walked around a little more and we didn't see anything else. We were so confused. We asked the other people at the pool, "di mana hot springs?" They pointed to the pool. What!? Yep, that's what we went to see. We were a little disappointed at first, but then we walked over by the pool and dipped our feet in. Wowzers, was it hot! Haha. It took me awhile to be able to put my legs in all the way. I don't know how some people were bathing in it completely? It was actually quite relaxing, and we learned that it is one of the nicest hot springs in Bandung, because they have turned it into a pool. They are able to take care of it. 

     After the hot springs, we had the driver take us to this restaurant called Kampung Daun. We had heard it was in the valley of the mountains and that it was very nice. Well, they were right. I loved the place. We got there and it was a lit driveway up to the restaurant. It was so pretty. When we got there, they showed us to our little hut where we would be eating. You ate outside in a little hut that was dimly lit. The food prices were decent and it was really good. Amber ordered some sate that was delicious! I had some strawberry tea, pasta and of course some cheesecake for dessert. Our driver actually ate with us too, because we had to pay for his meal. Usually the cost of your driver doesn't include their meal so you have to provide one. He didn't really seem to want to sit with us, but we wanted him to. They probably aren't used to people asking them to eat with them. We really enjoyed the meal and the conversation. We even included the driver and asked him some questions in Bahasa using our phrasebook. He was a very nice guy, and he seemed to enjoy himself. 

     After we were finished eating, it was time to go back to the hotel. The drive was about an hour or so to get back. That was the end of our little mini trip. 

     The next morning we all got up, and checked out of our hotel. We decided to check out a little restaurant called Nannys Pavillon for breakfast. It was recommended by another teacher from the school. It was a pancake house, so they had a ton of different types of pancakes that you could get, but it seemed to all be served with ice cream. They did have some pasta and appetizers that you could order too, so I ordered some food and shared it with Eduardo.

     We went to the mall where our transportation would be picking us up to go back to Jakarta. It took us forever to get back. We came upon an accident where a truck had been completely crushed. Then we came upon another one on the side of the road. We think that because of the rain, there were accidents. Then when we got closer to Jakarta, the traffic got bad. I slept most of the time, so it went by quickly. 

Bandung: Day 1 - October 2012

     We had a week holiday in October from school, so we decided to take a mini vacation. I was invited to go to Thailand with some of the other teachers, but I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on a hotel and a plane ticket. Amber and I got a few of the Chinese teachers to come with us on our trip. Many people have been to Bandung, so it was easy to plan. We just had to ask other teachers at school where they recommended us to go. A lot of people actually go to Bandung as a day trip because it is so close. It is a popular place to go, because this is where all the good, cheap shopping is. We thought we had to check it out. We got my friend Lana, a local Indonesian, to help us book our bus tickets to go. You only had to pay about $8 (US) for a one way ticket. The trip there was only about two hours, so that's not bad at all.

     We arrived there very early in the morning. We stayed at a hotel called Scarlet Hotel in the Dago area. It was a very nice hotel that included free breakfast for us in the morning. We actually didn't reserve a room, so we got to pick one out when we got there. It was very quiet, as there were not many people staying there. 

Amber is loving the beds :) 

This is the view from the shower...haha. Don't worry there was a curtain. 

     After we got all settled in, off we went for our day of shopping. We decided to do shopping on the first day and sights on the second day. We saw a McDonald's on the way, so we decided to get lunch. After lunch, we started walking down the street. We didn't quite know where we were going, but that was the way that everyone was telling us to go. We were walking along and we weren't really seeing anything, so we started to ask people along the way in our horrible Bahasa Indonesia. We must have been going in the right direction, because not long after, we came to a bunch of stores that were outlets. We stopped at one outlet store and then decided to take a taksi to some of the bigger outlet stores that we had heard of. 

     As we were riding in the taksi, we saw that the street we were on, was lined with outlet stores. We just hadn't walked far enough yet. The driver of the taksi took us to one of the big outlet stores. We looked around for awhile and some of the girls found shoes and bags to buy. After that, we got a taksi and went to another mall called Paris Van Java. Amber and I got the craziest cab driver in Bandung I think. He didn't speak much English, so we were using our phrasebook. Amber decided to look at the "Talking" section. It had questions that you could ask people just to make small talk. Haha, one of the questions that she asked him was if he had any children. Apparently he thought that meant that Amber wanted to reproduce with him. Haha, moving on. We started to ask him other questions. He was just a cooky driver. He asked us if we wanted to go to the club with him and go dancing later that night. Poor drivers, they must get so bored, they have to find their entertainment somehow. It sure occupied us on the way there. 

     After we got there, we walked around and did a little shopping. Amber and I found this really good bubble tea place. I ordered a fruity tea, with fruit bubbles. It was the best bubble tea I had ever had. So delicious! :) We didn't really stay in that mall for very long, because we didn't really find much and we wanted to go a mall called Rumah Mode, which means "house of style" in Bahasa Indonesia. Finding a taksi to get there was a little harder. Amber did a good job of practicing her Bahasa and asked a worker at a restaurant to help us. For some reason when we called to get a taksi, they wouldn't answer, so he tried for us. He was finally able to get us a taksi so that we could leave. 

     Rumah Mode was just one big store that had a lot of clothes in it that were so cheap! I didn't really find anything that I liked, but the other girls bought quite a few things. I guess I am just picky. We stayed at that store until they were closing. We were getting hungry so we decided to try and take a cab to a restaurant that we had heard about.

     Well, that was the longest cab ride! We went all the way to the other side of town thinking that it was the right way, when we were only about 5 minutes from the restaurant to begin with. The driver drove us all the way back through town to the restaurant to have it be closed! Poor guy. We asked him if he had any suggestions as to where we should go, so he took us to a Pasta Warung near our hotel. The food was pretty good, although we didn't get as much food as we thought we were going to.

     After we got done eating, we actually took one of the little buses back to our hotel. It was a fun little experience. We have seen buses just like it in Jakarta, but we had never taken one. You always see them jammed packed with people sitting on the benches in the bus. They probably should only fit about eight or so people, but of course they fit more. This is Indonesia. Since it was getting late, there wasn't anyone in this bus. It only cost us 20 cents to take a ride on this bus. It is just a rickety little bus that seemed like it wasn't going to make it up the hills. I'm glad we did! 

     After we got home, we were all pretty tired, so we went to bed after watching a little tv.     

Padang Padang Beach and Uluwatu: Bali

     We decided to check out the temple, Uluwatu in Bali. We were told that the best time to go is at sunset to watch the traditional dance that they have there every night. We knew there was a beach nearby, so we decided to chill there for the day while waiting. It was a little ways from our hotel, so we took a taksi there. The guy dropped us off, and we weren't really sure where we were going. We found the stairs that took us down to the beach. We had to walk through a tight space between two rocks to get down to the beach. It was pretty neat. Of course, people were trying to fit through the tunnel more than one person at a time and it just wasn't working too well. We had to stop quite often to let someone through. 

     When we got down to the beach, we saw lots of vendors that were selling t-shirts, sarongs, and food. We hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we checked out the places while walking by. We walked around for a little bit trying to find a place to set our towels where we could save spots for the rest of our friends that were supposed to be coming. Little did we know, they got dropped off in a different spot of the beach and we never found them. We thought the beach was small because it was surrounded by a lot of large "rocks". I guess there were other parts that you could go to, but you couldn't swim there. We were able to swim at the area we were in. I couldn't believe how clear the water was. You could see right to the bottom! It was kind of tricky walking out to the water, because there were lots of rocks. You had to try and find a good spot, or just swim, so you didn't hurt your feet. We relaxed on the beach for quite awhile before we left to go to the temple.

     

     It was impossible for us to find a taksi to get to the temple. We would find one, and this guy would send it away! We were so mad. We found out that the beach had it's own transport that you had to pay for to go to Uluwatu. Of course, they would send taksis away. We even tried to call a taksi and they told us that they wouldn't come to that beach and pick us up. I guess if you wanted a taksi, you needed to walk away from the beach and find one. Anyway, we took the beach transport, which was only one way.

     When we got to the temple, they made us all put on a wrap because of the clothes that we were wearing. We were all in our swimming suits with just shorts and tank tops on. You have to be dressed properly to go into the temple. Sadly, the sunset dance was sold out, but the view of the sun going down was amazing. It was like you were watching the sun sink into the ocean. After the sun was completely down, we walked around the temple and checked it out. The others had left already since they missed the dance. I think they were all getting tired, but they missed an amazing view of the sunset. There were monkeys at this temple as well, but not nearly as many as there were in Monkey Forest. 

     Luckily, when we went to leave, we found a taksi. I guess you were supposed to have your taksi driver sit and wait for you while you tour the temple. Well, we didn't have one to begin with so we couldn't do that. The driver was a really nice guy. He said, "I just knew there would be some girls looking for a taksi, so I just stayed." Haha. We're lucky that he did. There was a traffic jam (macet in Bahasa) on the way home, so it took us awhile. We didn't really mind since we were in no hurry. 

Potato Head: Bali

   
     One of the nights that we were in Bali, we went to this restaurant called Potato Head. It was very fancy and right on the ocean. All of us girls wore dresses, also because we were planning on going out after eating. When we got there, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in. Good thing we had made a reservation. We were able to get right in. I should have known that it was going to be expensive, but wow! It's Bali, so I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be cheap. I ordered a drink, which probably cost me about $10 (US), and a meal that cost me about $20 (US). I tried to find something affordable, but good on the menu. I ended up getting a sandwich, which was delicious. I was happy to know that I was getting a good meal for what I was paying for it. We sat around and talked, before we moved to the lower part of the bar. They had an area that had a pool in this beach club. If you wanted to sit on a couch, you had to rent it for like $50 (US)!! We definitely didn't want to do that, so we went and found some seats over by the bar.
     It was dark already so we decided to go and check out the ocean. I could not believe it! It was so beautiful at night. I was standing in the Indian Ocean in Bali at night. We played around in the water, took some pictures and just enjoyed our time. The air was fresh, and you could see the moon and the stars in the sky. It was so much different than being in Jakarta at night. I had never appreciated being able to see the stars and the moon as much as I did then.

     

     As we walked back up to the beach club, there was a small stream of water flowing through where you would wash the sand from your feet. We went and sat back down at our seats, and ordered a few drinks. We met a couple of Australians that decided to come and talk to us. I can't remember their names, but they were interesting. They were in Bali for the holiday, which was not surprising. It is the place to be for the Australians. They invited us to a party that they were going to later and we thought, why not? They decided to get up and start talking to some other people and then they never came back. Oh well, we decided we were going to do our own thing. We decided to leave and find another place to go out. 

     We had to take two cabs, because some of the others went back to the hotel to get money. Danna and I took one together and we got a little lost. We were dropped off in the wrong spot, which is another story that isn't really worth telling. Anyway, Danna and I had to try and ask people for directions to get to where we were going. We didn't want to pay to take a cab again, because we were so close to where we needed to be. I programmed the address of where we were supposed to be going into my phone and we started to walk. I don't know how much I will listen to my GPS on my phone again. It took us down some dark backstreets that I probably would not have been safe walking on by myself. I felt a little scared walking even with Danna. We passed a lot of Magic Mushroom places where guys sitting around outside tried to get our attention. We just kept on going. Finally, we made it to where we needed to be to meet up with the others.

     The bar was called The Tavern. It had really good music, and when we got there, they were having a drink special going on. You could buy a whole water bottle of a mixer. It was buy 1, get one free. We ended up paying about $3.50/water bottle. Not bad at all. They played all of the same music that would be played at any club/bar in America. We had some sketchy guys come up and start dancing with us, and we tried to get rid of them. It wasn't working very well, so we just left the dance floor until they went away. After awhile, there weren't very many people on the dance floor, so we got our whole group, plus some others that we didn't know to make a circle and start dancing. We all took turns going in the middle and dancing. It was so funny. We got so many people to join our circle, and it lasted for quite awhile. 

     When it was time to leave it was not too hard to find a cab. They are pretty much driving around everywhere waiting to pick people up. A lot of people will stay out until the sun comes up in Bali, but we went home at a fairly decent time. We were all pretty tired and ready to go home around 2:30 am. The bar was starting to clear out, and we didn't feel like going anywhere else. I will say that I did enjoy my night out in Bali. 

     One of our last nights in Bali, everyone decided to go out to the clubs/bars as a last hurrah before going home. Unfortunately, I didn't feel well. I don't know what it was. I don't know if it was something I ate, or if I was just tired, but I was not going to make it. I showered, got dressed up and everything, but I did not feel up to going by the time everyone was ready. I went straight to bed at 9 pm, and was woken up by everyone when they came home. The only thing I remember hearing was one of the girls saying, "Oh my gosh! I have a whistle in my purse!" I had no idea what she was talking about, but I went back to sleep. Of course I did find out the story behind the whistles. Apparently some Australians had these whistles at the bar and they were being annoying by blowing them to the music. Well, I guess my friends would go up to them and dance with them and steal the whistles from around their necks. My friend was proud that she was able to steal one and bring it back to the hotel with her. Haha. I guess I missed out. 

     I still had an amazing time in Bali, even though I didn't feel well that last night. I probably needed the rest anyway.